THE RATTLESNAKES 
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is derived from the broad bands of brown color 
which encircle the light-colored specimens. Of- 
ten the hinder half of an adult or old specimen 
PRAIRIE RATTLESNAKE. 
has a black-velvet appearance. The length of 
a large specimen is 4J feet. 
This Rattlesnake has suffered more from civ- 
ilization than any other species. Throughout 
many vast areas of rich and closely cultivated 
agricultural regions, it is now totally extinct. 
Although it is believed to exist within lifty miles 
of New York City, a living specimen would be 
about as difficult to find as a mastodon. 
Originally the home of this species embraced 
the entire territory from the Atlantic coast to 
western Iowa, Kansas, and into Texas. In 
many portions of this region it still exists in 
small numbers, and is said to be “fairly common 
in the Allegheny Mountains,” from Pennsylvania 
southward. 
The Homed Rattlesnake, or Side-Win- 
der , 1 of the far Southwest is a creature of the 
deserts, and the oddest member of this group. It 
has a small horn over each eye, and in crawling 
it moves sidewise, in very deep curves, totally 
different from the straightforward course of 
most rattlesnakes when on the war-path. This 
is the smallest of our rattlers. Its general color 
is yellowish-gray, marked by small round spots, 
and its home is in southern Arizona, California, 
Nevada, and probably Sonora, Mexico. 
The Massasauga- is the type of a genus of 
rattlesnakes containing only three species, dis- 
tinguished by various anatomical characters, but 
from neck to tail well marked, for the general 
student, by a succession of very dark brown sad- 
dle-bag patches of color laid upon lighter brown. 
1 Cro'ta-lus ce-ras'tes. 
' l Sis-tru’rus cat-e-na’tus. 
The joints of the rattles never exceed ten in num- 
ber. This species is found at long intervals from 
the swamps of western New York to Nebraska, 
but it is so rare that living specimens are difficult 
to obtain. 
The Copperhead 3 is a rather short and small 
serpent, seldom exceeding three feet in length. 
Its colors look like two shades of copper — broad 
bands of old copper laid on a background of new 
copper. When the skin is new and fresh, or 
when a specimen has been reared in the shadows 
of captivity, this serpent is beautiful. Strangely 
enough, it is in some respects the direct opposite 
of its nearest relative, the water-moccasin. 
The Copperhead is a serpent of the woods and 
rocks, and is not found in open grass lands. It 
is found from Indiana eastward (but not north- 
ward) to the Atlantic coast, and well up into 
New England. It ranges southwestward to 
BANDED RATTLESNAKE. (YELLOW PHASE.) 
BANDED RATTLESNAKE. (DARK PHASE.) 
Texas, and in different portions of its home it is 
known as the Pilot- Snake, Upland “ Moccasin ” 
3 An-cis'tro-don con-tor’ trix . 
